Jolene and John Gordon, retired empty nesters and avid sports enthusiasts who enjoy skiing and cycling, are revelling in the condo lifestyle. The duo recently sold their family home in Varsity Village, where they’d lived for 28 years, raising their children (they are now grown and living in other Canadian cities) and establishing strong community bonds. They had been watching the adjacent new community of University District (U/D) sprout and grow and were intrigued by its lifestyle offerings, in particular the green space, the walkability and the amenities.
They had fallen in love with a walkable lifestyle while John was on a work contract in Toronto from 2012 to 2018. “We lived right off of West Bloor, and we loved walking to virtually everything. We decided that in retirement, we would want our place to have great walkability, and University District was offering that,” says John.
Upon their return from Toronto, they initially began a comprehensive renovation on their family home in Varsity to make it “retirement friendly,” but soon realized that it didn’t offer them the lock-and-leave lifestyle that they wanted. The couple also owns a cottage in Invermere, where they vacation for six months of the year, so having a home that offered flexibility was a primary consideration. So, when their kids flew the nest, they began downsizing and purging and found a penthouse condominium in University District they quite loved and where they have been living for the past yea.
